A future based on love

It is no doubt that our social media use has a negative impact on us. It has been studied over and over again. Social media use is associated with negative self comparison, less investment in meaningful activities, increase in sedentary behavior, low self-esteem and increased sense of loneliness. But this post is not about that.(Here is a great post about that : 1 and this one as well 2)

This post is about hope. A hope for the future(a kindled hope). We believe that the social media madness is just a phase and there is a future,a future when we are more connected​ not just digitally but emotionally and spiritually. We believe that in this future there is more understanding, more tolerance and more empathy. A future where all our base needs are met artificially in the form of bots that do our chores, unparalleled amount of entertainment, and sex bots catering to our sexual desires, all of this will not be the end of humanity but will leave us more space and need for real human connection. A connection not based on superficiality of the glamorous portrayal of ourselves but a connection which is something more deeper based on our vulnerability, our scars and our perfect imperfections.

We believe the way to counter the negative effects of technology lies in the the conscious design of technology which does not take the time away from user but gives them their time back. Products which does not hinder human connection but enhances it. Technologies not based on our screen time but on our values. (These guys happen to believe the same thing 3 and we signed up as well)

With the advances in Artificial Intelligence we are now more capable of understanding the user and connecting with them. But this should not be used as a way to replace humanity but to augment it. Not just in ways of creating things as Maurice Conti talks about in his video but in ways that we initially thought more human.

Psychology has long studied human emotions and connections, what makes us truly happy and fulfilled, in fact what makes us human, while Artificial intelligence has long strived to model our minds, is it time the two fields combine to give us something more meaningful and valuable ?

We have already seen the power when the field of data science and psychology combine in the form of American presidential election . But when the two fields combine there is a possibility of good, possibility to create something more meaningful.

It all depends on how we design the future . A future based on our attention and screen time or a future based on love.